Archibald and Dickinson secure Madison gold as Britain end Track World Cup on a high

04 December 2017 / 10:02

The superlatives to describe Katie Archibald’s unmatchable form are rapidly running out after the British star took her second Track World Cup gold of the weekend in Canada.

After romping to the top of the points race podium earlier in the week, Archibald and Ellie Dickinson proved imperious in the Madison with an unbeatable display, deserving of victory in any competition.

The previous day Dickinson had won her first individual Track World Cup medal with omnium bronze but upgraded that in super fashion as the pair dominated throughout.

There was also a silver medal for Ollie Wood in the omnium, while bronze came the way of both Katy Marchant and Jack Carlin – with the trio all claiming individual World Cup honours for the first time.

But the final day in Milton belonged to Olympic champion Archibald and Dickinson, picking up a point in the first sprint before taking top honours in all but one of the next six sprints.

The last came via a tight hand-sling as Great Britain moved 11 points clear with one sprint to go, allowing themselves a breather as the French team weren’t able to take the required lap.

Riding the last lap in a relative canter was an honour the two had very much earned, finishing five points clear of Coralie Demay and Laurie Berthon, matching the Madison gold from Archibald and Elinor Barker in Manchester.

They were not the only pair rewarded with maple syrup – Canada’s unique prize for Track World Cup medallists – with Wood battling to an excellent omnium silver.

Finishing second in the scratch race, the Brit picked up an early lap before repeating the trick in the tempo race, sitting third with two events to go.

Fourth place in the elimination race set up a grandstand finish but Niklas Larsen – the Dane who has dominated World Cup omnium races this season – sparked into life and took a lap in the points race, a move that took him to gold.

Wood was not to be denied his medal moment though, securing silver to back up the Madison bronze won alongside Mark Stewart earlier in the weekend.

Meanwhile Olympic bronze medallist Marchant produced a superb tactical display to take silver in the keirin.
Finishing second in her heat and third in the semi-final, Marchant was glued to the back wheel of world champion Kristina Vogel to cause the field a plethora of problems, deservedly taking second place for her maiden individual World Cup honour.

That fate also came Carlin’s way, besting Hugo Barrette in the bronze-medal final with a 2-0 match win having narrowly missed out on the gold shootout with two tight defeats to Jeffrey Hoogland.

But that rounded up an impressive weekend for the British team in Canada, with nine medals the total haul, including two golds and four silvers.